The Government has today released a comprehensive report from the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development on the progress and current status of the Takata airbag recall program.

“I sought this urgent report following the recent tragic death of a motorist in Sydney allegedly caused by a faulty Takata airbag,” said Minister for Urban Infrastructure Paul Fletcher.

“It outlines the nature of the defect affecting these airbags, the scale of the recall, and the response to date by both the affected manufacturers and Government.

“It shows out of the 2.35 million potentially affected vehicles 850,000 have had their airbag replaced, leaving approximately 1.5 million vehicles still requiring replacement.”

Last week Minister for Small Business Michael McCormack issued a Safety Warning Notice to warn consumers of the possible risks presented by the use of vehicles fitted with Takata airbags, and directed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to conduct a safety investigation into this matter.

“The ACCC has established a Taskforce which will investigate the risks involved in the use of vehicles with Takata airbags, including the actions of manufacturers to inform consumers about the risks, as well as the adequacy and speed of their airbag replacement programs,” Minister McCormack said.

“The Taskforce will report to Government in the coming weeks on what further actions may be needed, including the possibility of issuing a mandatory recall.”

The two Ministers said the ACCC and the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development are working closely together on this issue and will continue to receive the support they need at the political level as they work to protect Australian consumers.

Since 2009, vehicle manufacturers in Australia have been recalling vehicles fitted with potentially defective airbag inflators produced by Takata resulting in the mis-deployment of the airbag.

This is a global recall on an unprecedented scale with reports of up to 100 million affected vehicles worldwide.

If you are not sure if your vehicle is affected, as a first step you should go to product safety website of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, www.productsafety.gov.au which gives further information including a list of potentially affected makes and models of vehicle. If you discover that your vehicle is potentially affected, you should contact your local dealer as soon as possible.